the option of not having to go to school works better for him... i tried to look on mgoblue.com but his profile is gone already, but how old is he??? because if he is 20 then this is the only year he can play for plymouth....

I'm not entirely clear on the rules either so if you get some good info pass it along. I do know that each team is allowed one overage player and I'm guessing Czarnik would be good enough to qualify for that next year if need be. I've gotta presume that he's done in the OHL after this year.

i got the explaination on the overage rule from my buddy who is a huge ohl guy....

since he is 19 and turns 20 during the season he gets another year. its the players age at the beginning of the season that counts. as for the amount of overagers that can be carried by one team, the limit is 4 but by january the team has to be down to 3.

most of the guys that i knew that played for the windsor spitfires only went to school because the GM of the team checked up on them. one kid told me that he took a 3 week march break because the GM forgot what school he was going to.

I'm not sure I believe he actually will be doing that. I'm not sure it's even possible.

But if that is his plan, it would have to be a problem with Red that is causing this split. Obviously that was the logical inference anyway, but I am still pretty surprised that is the issue rather than grades or something like that.

The OHL offers substantial scholarship monies to players in the league so he would have some ability to return to school if he wanted to in future without much financial issue.

Honestly, while M hockey is legit south of the border it is hardly the quality of the OHL. If Czarnik was of the opinion he had a legit shot at an NHL camp next year or the year after then he likely made a reasonable decision. If he is seeking to prepare for pro hockey then the OHL is the best approach. (Of course, this all depends on whether or not he has the ability to play in that league and if his advisors or agent etc. are giving he and his family reasonable advice).

Either way, when his career in the OHL is over if it doesn't work out for him to make the NHL/AHL then he would still have the option to go to university in Canada with a scholarship from the OHL plus student athlete aid. While it is unfortunate for him to leave M he still would have a lot of options.

Where's the Freep piece about how he left over family values and excessive practice time, and also the coach isn't a minority and the locker room is fractured?

Seriously, what a trying season for Red, who's got to be used to better effort and results than this. But I think the team is too talented not to turn it around before long. I still don't see them getting farther in the playoffs than last year, but I hope we're still building towards a couple title runs in the next couple. It would be great to send Red off with a title--I don't think any other NCAA hockey coach deserves it more than he does at this point.

Just look at his stats with the NTDP this season... 2-4-6 in 18 games. Not very impressive. A lot of folks were high on him because he did well with the Under-17 Team last year, but so far with the Under-18 Team he hasn't done much.

is this Red's last season or is next year his last season? Could we see be seeing some early attrition before a new coach is even named? I mean, that may be somewhat of a factor in Campbell not signing his LOI.

Don't know if that would be much of a factor. Red has his succession plan in place, it's only a matter of when. If a recruit is confident with Red, they're going to be confident with Mel Pearson. Not to take anything away from Red and say that he is replaceable or insignificant, but it's not like they're going to be walking into the middle of a drastic or tumultuous coaching search/transition.

I don't remember seeing guys go for the "sweet play", but I do remember a lack of offensive moving-of-the-ass and all time terrible penalty killing. I hope they get their shit together soon or else I'm going to be begging for football season to come around and take away the sting of hockey. (Wow, that would be bizarro world)